The 18th BRICS Summit takes place in the Indian capital, New Delhi, this weekend at a time of great security and economic uncertainty throughout the international world order.
Simmering geopolitical differences and competing national interests among BRICS member-states is a matter impossible to overlook. Lingering differences in approach to the remaking of the international governance system remain an inescapable elephant in the room for BRICS.
However, there can be no denying that BRICS continues to grow as a force to reckon with in geopolitics. The current reconfiguration of the world order certainly bears the hallmarks of BRICS. Among a plethora of opportunities for the growing influence and impact of BRICS is the consistent pursuit of a pro-Global South agenda.
The expanded BRICS since the 2023 summit held in South Africa continues to be a magnet for a vast majority of the Global South countries. This point to a singular most important need among so-called less-developed economies – the dire need for companionship, for solidarity.
The obsolete world organizations, including the UN, have failed to offer assurances to the developing economies that equality before international law is sacrosanct. The rise of the US-led unilateralism, coupled with the EU’s philosophical penchant to “hunt in a pack”, has triggered disaffected nations to reconsider effective ways of forming new alliances. BRICS, imperfect as the bloc might be, offers by far the most satisfying pathway to a brighter, safer and economically secured future devoid of perennial Western domination.
This week, as he departed for BRICS Summit in India, SA President Cyril Ramaphosa was upbeat about the role of BRICS and Global South in the changing world order.
“Leaders will discuss strengthening unity within the expanded and diverse BRICS membership, advancing global governance reform, and the interests of the Global South,” President Ramaphosa said.
Whilst at the New Delhi, SA has vowed to campaign and lobby for growth in “intra-BRICS trade and investment, promoting industrialization and value addition, and mobilizing investment in African infrastructure aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)”.
To show that BRICS has its eyes on the remaking of the world order, President Ramaphosa revealed that BRICS leaders will also participate in a session entitled “Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism”. BRICS currently has dozens of designated partner states as well as a long list of countries vying to join the bloc as fully-fledged members. At the last count there were more than 30 countries that had applied to join BRICS. All these countries will also attend the India BRICS Summit, in addition to “invited countries” that will participate is a special session focusing on “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth”.
This paints a clear picture of the simmering divisions in geopolitical relations, and dwindling impact of the traditional global fora.
BRICS has become a catalyst in pursuit of a new alternative world order based on inclusivity, equality before international law, and a return to the principle of the founding UN Charter – multilateralism. Furthermore, BRICS is emphatically clear in one of the key objectives, which is “shared future”.
Therefore, there can be no denying that BRICS is attracting many nations that have felt left out of the “geopolitical sphere of influence” led by the West. The remaking of a new world order thus unsurprisingly seeks to reposition the otherwise disenfranchised “developing economies” as champions of their own future, masters of their own destiny.
It is inconceivable for BRICS to attain all these goals without dislodging Western domination in international relations. Inevitable, this paves a way for a collision between the Global South and the West, or Global North, a block that has historically amassed its ill-gotten wealth on the back of slavery and colonialism, and will certainly not succumb without resistance to an onslaught on their global domination.
The summit in India will of course conclude with the adoption of the New Delhi Declaration. By all accounts, it seems like this mark the beginning of the end, and end to Western domination that is currently facing one of its greatest challenges – President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy and expansionist dreams marked by the desire to annex NATO-aligned Greenland.
This display of rare public disunity and the evident disintegration of Western hegemony present a major opportunity for BRICS and the Global South, also increasingly referred to as the Majority World, to seize the moment.
Whilst hosting doubtlessly nations representing the interests of the Majority World, BRICS will also discuss the reforms of the UN system, particularly reforms of the archaic UN Security Council.
Africa rightfully demands a permanent seat in the UNSC, so does Asia and Latin America. The over-representation of Europe and the West in international organizations is no longer a matter that can be ignored. BRICS offers new alternatives and pathway to a just world order like no since the bloc was formed some 20 years ago. Lastly, BRICS would do well to adopt a new policy of speaking in unison in developing world affairs. The disjointed declaration of stance by BRICS individual member-states on common matters does not bode well. Like EU and the West, BRICS should “hunt in packs”. The illegal attack by the US and Israel on a BRICS member, Iran, is a case in point that needed a united statement. So, too, should BRICS issue a joint statement on the war in Ukraine, which involve another BRICS member, Russia – against who the West combined to punish with a barrage of sanctions that has failed to collapse Moscow’s economy. A disjointed BRICS approach to a united challenge in the form of Western hegemony will yield very little to no fruits. The world awaits the outcome of the New Delhi Summit taking place from 12th-13th September.
*Abbey Makoe is founder and editor-in-chief of Global South Media Network (gsmn.co.za). Views expressed are personal.
